THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACING US ARE MADE UP OF
COMPLEX, INTERCONNECTED PARTS
People need better ways to understand
the full picture.
Climate Interactive is an independent, not-for-profit think-tank that grew out of MIT Sloan in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Based on a long tradition of system dynamics modeling, our simulations and insights help people see connections, play out scenarios, and see what works to address climate change, inequity, and related issues like energy, health, and food. Climate Interactive was named the top US Energy and Environment think tank, by Prospect Magazine.
WHAT WE DO
We Create…
Simulation models such as the En-ROADS simulator, frameworks such as Multisolving, and interactive workshops such as widely-used role-play games.
We Engage…
Global leaders. Through our diffusion efforts, leaders from over 85 countries have used our tools to make a difference.
We Help…
Companies, community groups and governments improve their strategies, pointing them toward high-leverage approaches.
Our Achievements
- We have briefed dozens of US Senators, Representatives, and their staffers from both sides of the aisle using the En-ROADS simulation.
- Together with partners in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, we have created shifts in spending and policy that improve both racial equity and climate resilience.
- Our simulators have been used by the US State Department, the Chinese Government, and the United Nations’ Secretary-General’s office.
- The concept of Multisolving, coined at Climate Interactive, is being put into practice in local communities, cities, states, and nations around the world.
- Partners have used our simulators in universities, communities, governments and businesses in 88 countries, engaging over 55,000 registered participants.
Our approaches help people…
Focus on Leverage
After using our simulations people understand, at a deep level, which policies and strategies are more likely to make a big impact.
See the Big Picture
Often people can only drill down into one area of a complex socio-environmental system. Our simulations help people see the whole picture and watch it play out over the long-term.
Learn
When people ask customized “What If” questions and get immediate answers, they build their capacity to act on their insights.
Communicate Effectively
Teams develop graphs, messages, powerful numbers, and overall communication that enroll others in effective action.
Ground Conversations
Our simulations bring scientific and economic rigor to group workshops and strategic discussions.
Stitch Together Analyses
For many complex issues, people will often have access to a number of different sources of numerical and technical analysis. Our modelers integrate and summarize the relevant information and make it useful to the challenges at hand.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Influences and aspirations that guide our work:
The Dana Meadows vision
Dr. Donella H. Meadows (1941-2001), a MacArthur “Genius” award winner, was a mentor to our executive team and an advocate for our approach: combine scientifically-grounded analysis with advanced learning technologies, a positive vision for a sustainable world, and faith in the goodness of people.
System dynamics
simulation modeling
Our work employs analytical techniques developed in the System Dynamics Group at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, now led by our Senior Advisor Dr. John Sterman, and where many on our team were trained.
Justice and Equity
At Climate Interactive, we are committed to helping people explore the implications that proposed climate solutions have on equity and justice. True climate solutions also create a more just world, in which both the burdens and benefits of addressing climate change are shared in a just manner.
Experiential learning and games
Because, as Dr. John Sterman says, “Research shows that showing people research doesn’t work,” we embed our tools in interactive games and workshops, building on decades of examples out of MIT Sloan such as the Beer Game, and FishBanks. by Jay Forrester, Dennis Meadows, and others.
Complex Adaptive Systems
We view the climate and the policies and investments that could protect it through the lens of complex adaptive systems. That means we prioritize strategies where small changes can leverage big results and where new connections between previously isolated stakeholders can generate novel possibilities.
Climate Interactive was founded by Dr. Elizabeth Sawin and Andrew P. Jones in 2010. It is a fiscally sponsored project of the New Venture Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization based in Washington, DC.